Stationery-guide assembly



A Patented Feb. 17,1942

FF 1Q STATIONERY-GUIDE ASSEIWBLY John E. Euth and Richard H. Colwill, Chicago, Ill., assignors to United Autographic Register 00., a corporation of Illinois Application May 18, 1940, Serial No. 336,049

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved adjustable stationery-guide assembly, and more particularly to aguide-mechanism for directing stationery into or out of typewriting machines, such as tabulating machines .and the like, where a fine adjustment is needed.

The invention is particularly useful in connection with machines which are operated automatically and do not require the constant attention of the operator. In order for such machines to operate satisfactorily, it is important that; continuous form stationery fed thereto be accurately guided to the platen of the machine.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable guide-mechanism whereby the guide-members may be quickly and accurately adjusted to accommodate various widths of stationery, and, after being adjusted to a proper spacing for the particular stationery width, the guide-members may be moved laterally, as a unit, to properly position the stationery with respect to the platen.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive guide-mechanism wherein the individual parts may be readily attached to the threaded shaft and be properly held thereon during the operation of the machine. I

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjusting spur gear on each of the guidemembers whose axis is angularly disposed with respect to the threaded shaft so that it may mesh directly with the screw.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a broken plan view of a stationeryguide assembly embodying the invention; Figure 2, a sectional view, taken as indicated at line 2 of Figure 1; and Figure 3, a bottom plan view showing the split-socket member for attaching the guide-member to the threaded shaft.

The embodiment illustrated is particularly useful in connection with an attachment for a tabulating machine, such as shown in Jensen Patent No. 2,130,015, issued September 13, 1938. The machine'is provided with a suitable guide frame 4 which is secured to the typewriting machine and has a cross-bar 5 for supporting the delivery ends of guide-members. A threaded shaft 6 is journalled in the frame members 4 and preferably is provided at its ends with knobs 1 so that the shaft may be rotated as desired.

The guide-members each have a base portion 8 adapted to support stationery led thereover and an upwardly'extending side-wall 9 which guides the edge portion of the stationery. The wall 9 is shown provided with a cutout portion ID to provide clearance for parts of the typewriting machine. The front portion of the guide-member has a downwardly extending lip II and is slidably supported on the cross-bar 5. The rear end of the guide-member is curved around downwardly, as shown in Figure 2. As best shown in Figures 2 and 3, the guide-member is provided with a split socket member to embrace the threaded shaft 6' and hold it in proper angular relation. The socket member comprises a fixed segment I2 and a, movable segment l3 which is hinged to the guide-member, as indicated at [4, and is urged into contact with the shaft by means of a spring I5. The movable segment of the socket member is preferably provided with an arm l5 which may be pressed upwardly to open the socket member and permit it to receive the shaft 6.

The guide-member is further provided with a spur gear 11 which is in mesh with the screw thread on the shaft 6. The gear has a shank 5 portion which is journalled in a bracket I8 and is provided at itsupper end with a finger Wheel 19 so that the guide-member may be moved laterally on the shaft 6 by rotating the gear and without rotating said shaft. As shown in Figure 2, the bracket l8 may be pivotally mounted at 20 and make a pin-and-slot connection with the wall 9, as indicated at 2|. A spring 22 urges the bearing downwardly so that the gear I! is held releasably in operative position. Thus, it will be 1 understoodthat by pressing the finger wheel I9 forwardly, the guide-member may be slid quickly along the shaft to a desired position without rotating either the shaft'fi or the gear ll. There is suflicient friction between the gear I! and bracket I8 that rotation of shaft 6 will not turn the gear. v

It will be understood that one or more clamping members may be attached to the shaft 6 by merely pressing the arm I6 and snapping the socket-member over the shaft 6. The finger wheels I9 may then be turned to provide sufiicient spacing between the side-walls 9 to accommodate the Width of the forms. Then, without changing the spacing between the side-Walls 9, the guide members may be moved as a unit by rotating the shaft 6 by means of one of the finger wheels I.

Theforegoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom for some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. An adjustable stationery-guide assembly for a typewriting machine, comprising: a frame having a cross-bar; a threaded shaft journalled in said frame; and a guide-member comprising a stationery-supporting base portion and an upwardly extending side-wall having one end portion slidably resting on said cross-bar and the other end portion secured against radial displacement from said shaft, a spur gear frictionally journalled on said guide-member in toothed engagement with the thread of said shaft so that it will move the guide-member axially on said shaft when the shaft is rotated.

2. A device as specified in claim 1, in which the guide-member is releasably secured to the shaft by means of an arcuate clamping member which is hinged to the guide-member and is provided with a spring for urging it into contact with said threaded shaft.

3. A device as specified in claim 1, in which the guide-member is provided with a split socket portion to receive the threaded shaft and hold the guide-member in proper angular relation with respect to said shaft, one portion of said socket member being fixed to the guide-member and the other portion being hinged thereto and urged into engagement with the shaft by means of a spring.

4. An adjustable stationary-guide assembly for a typewriting machine, comprising: a frame having a cross-bar; a threaded shaft journalled in said frame; and a guide-member having one end portion slidably resting on said cross-bar and the other end secured against radial displacement from and slidably mounted for axial movement on said threaded shaft, said guide-member being provided with a spur gear frictionally journalled on the guide-member and meshing with the threaded shaft so that the guide-member may be moved axially of the shaft by rotation of either the shaft or the gear.

5. A device as specified in claim 4, in which the shank of the spur gear is frictionally journalled in a bearing-bracket, said bracket being pivotally mounted on the guide-member and having a spring disposed so as to urge said gear yieldingly into toothed engagement with the threaded shaft and whereby the gear may be swung bodily from engagement with the shaft to permit the guide-member to be slid freely on said shaft.

6. An adjustable stationary-guide assembly for a typewriting machine, comprising: a frame having a cross-bar; a threaded shaft journalled in said frame; and a plurality of guide-members each having one end portion slidably supported on said cross-bar and the other end journalled on said shaft, each of said guide-members having a gear frictionally journalled on the guide-member, in mesh with said shaft, and each gear having a knob for rotating the gear independently of any other gear whereby the guide-members may be adjusted with respect to each other axially of the shaft and said guide-members may be shifted in unison by rotation of the shaft.

JOHN E. EUTH. RICHARD H. COL-WILL. 

